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Vaccine shortage leaves Nigeria vulnerable to COVID-19 menace

On June 6, 2021, there were 322,263 new cases of Coronavirus worldwide, according to data from Statista. Also, the total number of deaths from COVID-19 has reached over 3.7 million. The surge warranted the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommendation for vaccination, but current hoarding of vaccines by developed countries, resulting in vaccine inequity and shortage could threaten the fight to curb the virus, reports APPOLONIA ADEYEMI

The threat of a COVID- 19 third wave in Africa is real and rising. These were the words of Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, the World Health Organisation (WHO) Regional Director for Africa. She made this observation during a virtual press conference held last Thursday. While the general attitude of the majority of Nigerians to protect themselves against coronavirus has been negative, the fact staring them in the face is that the virus is still being transmitted in Nigerian communities. Also, the movement of individuals across international borders for both domestic and business purposes could expose more Nigerians to the virus.

In Nigeria for instance, since the delivery of the first COVID-19 vaccine consignment in which Nigeria received 3.94 million doses of the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine, manufactured by the Serum Institute of India (SII), from Mumbai, there hasn’t been any other supply. Those vaccines were shipped via the COVAX Facility, a partnership between CEPI, Gavi, UNICEF and WHO. Since that delivery on March 2, vaccination exercises have since been rolled out in the country and as at June 6, 1,966,128, clients have been vaccinated across the country, according to the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA).

Having vaccinated 1,966, 128 representing 97.7 per cent of the two million Nigerians targeted for vaccination in the first phase, that could be considered a positive take off for the country, though the vaccines were gifts to the country. The questions being asked by stakeholders are after the first phase, which will be rounded off in the next few weeks, what next?

The worry is that as of the time of filing this report, June 8, Nigeria’s next consignment of COVID-19 vaccines was still being expected. The Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, at a press briefing organised by the Presidential Media Team, last week said Nigeria was expecting 29 million Johnson and Johnson (J&J) COVID-19 vaccines between June and July. However, as Nigerians who have not been vaccinated await the delivery of the vaccines, the minister of health has advised Nigerians to sustain existing safety protocols, warning that the country was not yet out of the woods. Sadly, the majority of Nigerians continue to demonstrate nonchalant attitude with regard to observing basic COVID- 19 protocols despite the alerts that are consistently raised by the WHO.

According to WHO’s Regional Director for Africa, in the last two weeks, Africa recorded a 20 per cent increase in COVID-19 cases compared with the previous fortnight. The world body observed that the pandemic is trending upwards in 14 countries and in the past week alone, eight countries witnessed an abrupt rise of over 30 per cent in cases. South Africa is reporting a sustained increase in cases, while Uganda saw a 131 per cent week-on-week rise penultimate week, with infection clusters in schools, rising cases among health workers and isolation centres and intensive care units filling up.

Angola and Namibia are also experiencing resurgence in cases. In Nigeria, data issued from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) showed that as of June 7, 49 new confirmed cases were recorded. Till date, 166,816 cases have been confirmed.

While the number of discharged cases stands at 163,190, the number of deaths is 2,117 in 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). As Nigeria awaits the J&J vaccine, what is certain is that COVID-19 vaccine shipments to developing countries and poor nations have continued to slow down.

Burkina Faso last week received just 115 000 doses from the COVAX Facility, while Rwanda and Togo each received around 100 000 Pfizer vaccine doses, according to the WHO. Also, nearly 20 African countries have used up more than two-thirds of their doses. Moeti said the COVAX Facility is in talks with several manufacturers, as well as with countries which have vaccinated their high-risk groups to share doses.

“It is no more a secret that COVID-19 vaccines are abysmally insufficient, as evidenced by the numbers vaccinated so far and the vaccines said to still be palpable at present, leaving Nigeria as a country vulnerable to the scourge, should it present again acutely and with more virulence, said Dr. Okhuaihesuyi Uyilawa the president of the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD). In addition, the president of NARD lamented the lack of involvement of critical stakeholders in the health system, especially at the point of policy formation, and down to evaluation, saying it created a wide gap with the actual and distorted implementation.

He said, “In view of these, it is the opinion of NARD that critical stakeholders should be carried along in this war against this particular virus by the government. “Efforts should also be made to procure the much needed vaccines, while testing centres should be prompt with tests and results released. “Furthermore, the government should intensify the media engagements on COVID-19 health seeking behaviours of a good majority of Nigerians.” On his part, the Chairman, Infectious Disease, Nigeria Medical Association (NMA), Lagos State Branch, Dr. Japhet Olugbogi said, “We are not sure when the next consignment of COVID-19 vaccines would come but according to the information available to us, we are expecting about 30 million doses of J&J vaccines. These are being touted for use in the second phase of our vaccination campaign.

“The J&J vaccine is a onedose vaccine; therefore, we expect as many people as possible to be vaccinated when we eventually get the vaccine. “We have hope because we have utilised the vaccines given to us through the Covax Facility in March.

This was attested to by the WHO when they compared the rate of utilisation of vaccines in Africa against expired/discarded doses. Nigeria has utilised the vaccines given to her effectively.” However, Olugbogi said, “We must continue to do the right things; those who have received their first dose should go and get their second dose. “Those who peddle unsubstantiated rumours should desist from it, and the Government should endeavour to continue chasing the Covax vaccine or procure more vaccines for the teeming populace.” According to him, the awareness is there and so is the demand for vaccines; hence, the government should endeavour to meet the vaccine demands of Nigerians.

On his part, a top Virologist, Prof. Oyewale Tomori who was the former President of Nigerian Academy of Science (NAS), said looking at what we do with laws in Nigeria -from traffic laws to COVID-19 laws, it seems that laws in Nigeria were enacted to be abused, broken, countermanded, disobeyed, evaded, falsified, manipulated, plundered, twisted and at best ‘short-cutted’, if there is an english word like short-cutted, which I derived from the word short cut.

“On COVID-19, Tomori said, Nigeria remains a vulnerable nation unable to protect her population against the coronavirus because as of today nobody knows much about the country’s next consignment of COVID-19 vaccines – when will it come?. How many doses?… What brand of vaccines?, etc. “We are in this untenable and undesirable situation because at every level we lack the expected principles to deal with preparedness and response. We are a beggar nation not because we lack, but because we slack.”

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